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The government last month extended the exclusion zone from 5km to 7km, but on Friday, the National Disaster Management Agency said residents living in 16 villages farther than 5km from the peak were allowed to return to their homes after a lull in Sinabung's activity.

Ulya Ginting, one of the residents who had fled, told Metro TV that he had returned to his mountainside village with his father-in-law and local officials when the volcano belched hot ash and rocks.

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"Our house and field have been destroyed, so when officials offered to renovate our house, we came with them to see our village," said Ginting, whose father-in-law was injured in the eruption.

He said many people were ascending the volcano to check on the condition of their homes and farms and those who had gone before him were unlikely to have survived.